Please, no flowers

It wasn’t actually a business streak this time, it was a personal one.

You see, I was hospitalized yesterday.

I’m good now, but it was a bizarre day…

It all started in church Sunday morning.

I fainted right at the tail end of Mass.

I felt it coming, as I got super sensitive to light, starting seeing ‘static’, and then everything started to go bright white.

I quickly told my wife to help me, then I sat down and immediately collapsed onto her…

As it had been a special event at church, one of the Assistant Bishops was there, and when I came to about a minute later, the Bishop was standing over me, blessed me, and then made way for the paramedics coming up the aisle…

I’m glad it was the Bishop I saw and not St Peter (at least not yet…)

I’m actually in the hospital now as I write this. They’ve poked and prodded me, done a bunch of tests, and everything is coming back fine.

So looks like it was just one of those things.

Guess it happens sometimes.

Which brings me to the business lesson.

(You’ve figured out by now that I see a business lesson in everything, right?)

This one has to do with choosing team members based on their confidence.

When you’re in a situation where you need an expert’s help, can you just trust them because they are a so-called “expert”?

Can you (should you) trust them just because they are a doctor?

Remember, no one is more responsible for you than you.

No one will know your entire story and all the details like you will.

So you still need to stay at the helm and make an effort to understand what is going on, even if some of it is over your head.

No different than a real estate settlement for example.

Sometimes you have to deal with a complicated issue and you won’t understand every nuance of what the real estate attorney is telling you, but it is still your deal, your responsibility, and your pending profits, so you have to take control and make the right decisions.

Which brings me back to how to actually have trust in the expert.

It’s a judgment call.

How do you judge doctor’s decisions?

How do you judge your attorney’s decisions?

How do you judge any “expert” opinion for that matter?

Confidence.

I judge them based on their confidence.

The confidence they show in their answers.

It isn’t an exact science, and certainty you have to be able to spot false confidence as well.

Admittedly it’s a subtle thing, but when you start to pay attention to it, you’ll get better at spotting it and knowing who to trust and who to avoid.

It starts with that little voice inside of you that gives you a gut reaction to someone.

Do they at least sound like they know what they’re talking about?

Not every expert really does.

And when you challenge them on their statements and assumptions (you are challenging them aren’t you?), does their response make sense and fit into the overall puzzle that is taking shape?

If it does, proceed.

If it doesn’t, get a second opinion.

Otherwise you might get screwed over.

In a deal that means losing profit and all the benefits that come with it.